


'Oh, Pretty Woman'

by lady_meatball



Series: A December to Remember [11]
Category: American (US) Actor RPF, Chris Evans (Actor) RPF
Genre: Domestic!Evans, F/M, Fluff, Gen, K C & the Sunshine Band, K&C
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-12-03 16:15:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11535849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lady_meatball/pseuds/lady_meatball
Summary: Chris and Katie leave her mom and stepfather’s house to head back to Las Vegas; they have a conversation about heavy topics and Chris gets more info about his soon to be in-laws before they pick Scott up from McCarran International Airport and head to the comfort of Katie’s apartment to relax.





	'Oh, Pretty Woman'

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings- Talks of bullying, racism, inappropriate attention from a family member, brief mentions of abuse (mental, emotional, and physical directed at woman and child), alluded smut, shows of possession, aggression and dominance. 
> 
> If ANY of those things might trigger you, please direct message me before reading, so I can give you a synopsis because I don’t want to trigger anybody!

 

Visual Inspo [_**HERE**_](https://lady-meatball.tumblr.com/post/162445581645/oh-pretty-woman-by-card-carrying-nerd-featuring)

[Originally posted by iziaa](https://tmblr.co/ZvZucx2Kr_LxS)

Mom hadn’t been happy that our time visiting was over, but after many hugs, and Chris repeatedly promising her that we’d come back soon along with his numerous invites to come visit us in L.A., we eventually made our way to leave; even Cassie was sad when we gave our final goodbyes, coming to sit next to Chris, leaning her whole body against his leg and reaching her ‘shaking’ paw towards his hand to get his attention over and over again, but we had to get on the road, and with Chris having the rental from the airport, it meant we’d be ‘wagon training’ back into Vegas before Scott’s flight arrived in the mid-afternoon.

Chris had insisted I lead for the drive back into the city, and after forty-five minutes, we pulled into the Chevron station on Highway 160, with the cloud cover stretching out to blanket the valley, we took up the two pumps closest to the front doors of the convenience store. I had turned to the passenger seat, reaching for my wallet and phone, not paying attention when my door opened and startled me.

“Hey _Speed Racer_ …were you trying to shake me off your tail back there, or what?” Chris asked with a chuckle, leaning his arms on the door and frame while bending to smile at me. “We came up to the incline and all of a sudden you had a lead foot! I didn’t know where the fahk you went, only catching glimpses of the Stitch decal around the corners behind that semi you zipped around…”

“ _Oops…_ ” I giggled, grinning widely as he shook his head from side to side before leaning in and kissing me tenderly.

“Don’t _‘oops’_ me, I thought you said you **don’t** speed…I don’t want to hear it _next time_ …”

“ _Excuse you_ …I am a _defensive_ driver!” I laughed, pulling back from his lips to level a smirk up at him, explaining, “And I **_never_** said that I _don’t_ speed, I keep up with the flow of traffic, and I just happen to know how most people drive that stretch…and besides, I hate being stuck behind semi’s on downhill grades in these types of conditions, makes me really nervous, especially with snow on the ground…having to ride my brakes…”

“That **WASN’T** snow, babe…” Chris pointed out with a lopsided grin and one eyebrow raised high.

“It wasn’t _MUCH_ , but where there’s snow…even a little bit, there’s usually ice.” I finished, pulling my purse from the seat to prepare to step out of the car and stand. Chris stepped back, giving me enough space to move into as I bent at the waist, pulling the little lever to open my gas compartment; calling back over my shoulder, I smiled, “But, you found me waiting for you at the bottom of the hill, before the road work… _Slow Poke_!”

“That still doesn’t outweigh the fact that you left me behind a semi truck going 35 miles an hour down that damn grade…” He muttered, reaching for his wallet in his back pocket; I chuckled while brushing back the hair that strong gusts of wind kept blowing into my face. “I’m gonna laugh when you get a speeding ticket.” Chris added, making me laugh harder as he opened the leather fold, pulling a fifty dollar bill to hand over to me.

“Nope, that’s **_your_** thing…” I teased as I plucked the money from his hand, smiling up at him before asking, “Want anything from inside?”

“Nahh, I’m good, baby. I’ll manage until we pick up Scott, then we can grab dinner and just back to the apartment, call it a day…”

“And what if he doesn’t want to ‘call it a day’? What if your brother wants to go out?” I asked, sweetly, stepping around Chris to cross the parking lot and head inside to prepay for both pumps and pee.

“I’ll call his ass a cab!” He laughed before stopping me with a touch to my elbow, telling me, “I changed my mind, grab me a bag of M&M’s and a chocolate Muscle Milk if they have it?”

“Plain, Peanut, Pretzel…?”

“Which one’s do _you_ prefer?” He challenged, and I saw the spark of him testing me with his own question. It was a reminder that we still had a lot to learn about one another.

Smiling, I leaned in close, whispering, “The _only_ ones worth eating… _Peanut_.”

[Originally posted by andyrama](https://tmblr.co/ZN2xzx17pQxls)

“ _Good answer.”_ He agreed, nodding; a sudden swat to my backside had me jumping in surprise, my hands covering the stinging flesh in question as I leveled a shit eating grin and huge eyes in his direction, failing to control my little giggle of enjoyment in the process. 

“Liked that, _did ya_?-” He teased as he took his opportunity to lean into me, adding on a low voice, “-Play your cards just right, and there **_might_** be more of that in store for later tonight…”

“Promises, promises…” I flirted, teasing him right back. Biting my lip, I let him know I did like his display, so uncharacteristic of him while out and about in public, by letting my eyes drift to his lips before looking him straight in the eyes as I went on asking, “Are you gonna pull my hair and smack my ass? Is that how it’s going to be tonight?”

“I guess you’re just going to have to find out as the night unfolds, won’t you?” Chris taunted, leaning in the scant few centimeters left between us, pecking a flirtatious kiss to my lips with a wag of his eyebrow upon pulling back.

[Originally posted by theworldofshipping801](https://tmblr.co/ZFjZ7i22E9U4D)

“ _Tease._ ” I breathed and he grinned like the Dickens.

“That’s _**MY**_ line.” He reminded me with a low laugh and his thumb hooking into his chest before sent a wink in my direction as he stepped behind the pump to get the cars ready to be filled up.

* * *

I sat in my car, watching for Chris to return from turning in the car, bundled up in my layers of clothes with the heater keeping the inside of my Focus toasty in the late December chill of the southern Nevada desert. We had saved ourselves a step earlier by just loading up all of our stuff in my trunk before leaving my mom’s house, and the only thing Chris had left to transfer over to my car was himself once he was finished. 

It wasn’t long before I saw him jog out of the automatic doors at the huge rental building, checking the driveway for buses and other vehicles before crossing to dash over to where I waited.

The door opened, and in he came, folding into the passenger seat next to me; reaching back, he snagged the seat belt and pulled it across his chest to click into the lock, smiling, “Done. Looks like we got some time to kill before Scott’s plane lands…whaddaya want to do, Kay?”

I pressed my lips together, pushing them out from my face in a thoughtful moment of checking what options we had available to us before expelling a sigh as I looked over at him, watching me with his eyebrows pushing his forehead high, an amused expression lighting his handsome face.

“ _What?_ ” He chuckled, shifting to face me better.

“We have…-” I started, glancing at the clock on my dash, “-just under two hours, Chris. That’s not a whole hell of a lot of time… _I mean_ -” I sighed again, lifting my hand to push the cap I wore, Chris’ infamous NASA one, higher up off my forehead to scratch an itch along my eyebrow before pulling it back into place, “-it’s not really enough time to take our shit back to my place and get to the airport with as much driving as it’ll take…there’s a few shopping areas that are nearby, but I don’t think you want to go walking around in crowded malls…there’s a Starbucks near here, we could go grab something to drink and go park near the driving range, and just talk?”

He let my suggestion sink in, thinking it over for a couple of solid beats before he nodded.

“Okay, we can do that.” He agreed, but soon that goofy smile was back to spreading across his face as he added, “ _You and your Starbucks habit_ …I swear, babe…should I be worried?”

I couldn’t help but laugh, a smile of my own matching his as I leaned to the side, stretching to peck a kiss to his lips before leaning back to tell him, “Let’s just say, you wouldn’t be the first to give me crap for it…I think I can handle you making fun of me for it just as long as you don’t go the same route as my cousin’s husband and start in on how the company is ‘ _everything wrong in the world_ ’ because they’re not a small, local business and choke out the little guys with a wagging finger in your face while he stands on his soapbox. That I won’t be okay with…yes, they may be a global conglomeration, with a store on every block just about, but that company took very good care of me in moments of need, they keep me covered with health insurance, and were one of the best places I’ve ever worked for.”

“Dully noted…your cousin’s husband kind of sounds a little like a dick, babe…”

I shrugged my shoulders in my oversized chunky sweater, an indifferent smirk on my face as I started up the car.

“He has his moments…but then, don’t we all?” I admitted while putting the car into drive, checking my blind spots and heading out of the car rental compound. “Owen…he’s **_extremely_** liberal, like, he puts your family to shame, Chris…but he’s also one of the ‘young entitled white male’ club that expects his opinions to be right and not be challenged, unlike you, who is willing to listen and admit you don’t agree respectively…he can be a bit of a douche, and a poster boy for the new generation of ‘yuppy’, but he’s also a _**fantastic**_ musician, is working on becoming a sommelier on top of his fairly extensive knowledge of wine-making, and he loves my cousin with all his heart…so, you take the _good with the bad_ , I guess.”

“While I’m glad to hear I’ll most likely have somebody to talk to who is somewhat on the same page as me when it comes to politics when we visit your family, I don’t know how I feel about this kid, babe…” Chris said as I steered us back towards the main drag, Las Vegas Boulevard, and eventually the coffee shop. “He sounds like a punk and a bully…and you know how I feel about those…”

“He’s mellowed out quite a bit, Chris. The first few years he and my cousin Jaq were dating…let’s just say that family dinners back in California during that time frame were **_interesting_** … _very, very interesting_.” I told him, remembering the blow ups between Owen and various members of the family over the most trivial topics, like the time he got put into place just days before Christmas and Owen learned that in a family full of exceedingly strong women, he was not at the top of the pecking order and that Gram was not to be messed with unless you wanted to deal with the consequences…

I turned to level Chris with a serious expression as I pulled up to a stop in the turning lane behind a line of three cars at the light, warning him, “I really don’t think you have anything to worry about from Owen, he’s an okay dude when he’s not being provoked or drunk off his ass or high…but I’m telling you now, Chris, Gram **isn’t** a fan of his and if you ever see the two of them left alone together, find an excuse to join her-” I let my eyes do the talking, showing him I was serious in my Grandmother not wanting to be left alone with him as I touched his wrist with a gentle touch, explaining, “-I **_hate_** to say ‘ _protect her_ ’, but if you act like her knight in shining armor, she’ll _love_ you **_forever_** , well, more than she kind of already does anyways.”

“What happened?” He asked, confused, concerned and curious.

“It’s a long story…”

“We’ve got some time…is there a drive thru, or are we going inside to order?”

“It’s a drive-thru.” I smiled over at him, “ _My old store_. It’s late enough in the day that none of the usual people I worked with are still there, so you should be okay, but…maybe keep your face down and play on your phone while we’re at the window, okay?”

[Originally posted by lizziesolsen](https://tmblr.co/ZCPESy2MfBzh-)

“So… _what happened_?” Chris asked from the passenger seat, two red cups in hand and two brown pastry bags sitting in his lap as Katie steered the car back up Las Vegas Boulevard to wherever it was she had intended to park so the rest of their ‘free-time’ before needing to pick up Scott.

“Like I told you, it was Christmas time…I think it was the first Christmas they were together, Owen and my cousin…the first or second…-” Katie explained, distracted while checking her mirrors before glancing back over her right shoulder to change lanes. “Well, it was a couple of days before Christmas, and Mom and I had some last minute Christmas shopping to do once we got off of work, and when we got home, we found chaos had erupted…”

Chris sat watching her, forehead held high in anticipation of what was building in her story as she turned the blinker on and turned into a small parking lot that overlooked the airfield.

“At the time, Mom, Gram and I all lived in a three bedroom townhouse block, and my Aunt Carol and Jaq lived in the next one over… _well_ , we pulled up at home and saw Aunt Carol, Owen, his brother and one of Jaq’s friend’s boyfriends outside, pacing and smoking…” Katie told him, pulling into a space, turning the ignition off and twisting in her seat to face him better while reaching for her cup he held. She lifted her coffee, taking a sip and swallowing before licking her lips, taking a moment before continuing, “Owen came running around the corner, bombarding Mom and I before we even got out of the car, apologizing and saying he wanted to speak to Gram. Well, Mom and I had didn’t have a _fucking clue_ what was going on, so I started bringing bags of stuff inside, only catching little pieces of what he was saying as Mom tried to talk to him, and when I walked inside, I found Gram in near hysterics, crying on the couch, and knew something had happened.”

“Are you serious? _What the **fahk**_ did he do?”

“From what I understood, Gram had been telling my Aunt Carol about a conversation she had had with my Auntie Dee earlier in the day, about a mugging she had seen on the news in Fresno near where they live…” Katie went on telling him, gazing off blankly as she recalled the story, “Well, Owen had heard us talk about that area of town numerous times, he knew it was a more ‘urban’ area on the edges of town before tapering off into the seedy parts that fringe the farm land, and I don’t doubt Jaq painted it as the ghetto, because she’s never liked going to visit that part of town…she’s a little bit of a snob like that, hell, _they both are_!”

She paused long enough to take another sip of her flat white, letting Chris attempt to a moment wrap his head around what she was building her story towards.

“Well, come to find out, Owen overheard the conversation, took it to mean Gram and Aunty were pinpointing on the mugger’s race, and…”

“Did he _flat out_ call them racist?” Chris asked, feeling his general dislike for the guy building more and more by the second as Katie recalled the story for him.

“Pretty much…along a few _more_ not so nice words.” She nodded with a small frown.

“Well… _was_ it a race thing? I just want to know all the angles…” He cut in, explaining his need to know all the information she presented him with.

“No-” Katie shook her head, seeming to look internally for the details of a night that transpired years earlier, “- _at least_ , I don’t think it was…the area of town…that section, it’s on the north side, right on the edges of town…the majority of the people that live there are black or Hispanic, and it’s gang scene has grown exponentially…and with that, you’ve got the gang violence that sadly focus on each other and occasionally innocent bystanders get caught up in it. I think that was the case, and it was Gram passing along the story that was told to her, and the question came up, the _one and only_ thing Owen heard and focused on, was ‘Was the victim black? Was he Mexican?’ because you can almost immediately tell which gang is at fault by the victims.”

“ _Oh shit…_ ” Chris whispered, not completely believing what he was hearing.

“Yeah…it was a blow up that pretty much went **nuclear** , **_Gram_** reamed him a new one, **_Aunt Carol_** reamed him a new one, Jaq’s friend that had come to visit with her boyfriend… ** _she_** reamed him a new one…and once Mom and I got home, **_we both_** reamed him new assholes.” Katie sighed, lifting her hand to scratch an itch on her nose, glancing over at Chris as she said, “To say there’s no love lost between Gram and Owen, at least from Gram’s side of it, that’s putting things mildly. It’s been almost seven years, and she still doesn’t do anything more than the bare minimum required of her when it comes to him…so, _like I said_ , when you meet her and the rest of that part of family, if you see her left alone with him…go be my gallant Prince Charming, and pretend to be my Gram’s bodyguard?”

“I’ll **_fahking_** do **better than that** , Kay, **I’ll** put this asshole in his place if I see him getting out of line.” Chris huffed with an irritated snort before lifting his cup of hot chocolate for a sip. “ _I can’t fahking believe this kid…_ ”

“Babe, he’s only a few years younger than you! And besides, he’s mellowed out considerably in the last few years, hell, he kisses Gram’s ass _so much now_ that you’d think he was permanently attached…” Katie reassured with a touch to his forearm, explaining, “It’s _Gram_ , _she_ tolerates him, but she’s **_NOT_** a fan of his _at all_. _Oh man_ , when he and Jaq got married…the forced smiles on Gram’s face for having to be civil around him and his psychotic mother all day and into the night… _those_ were entertaining as fuck. _Granted_ , I didn’t get to enjoy the show as much as I would have liked, since my cousin Nicole’s creep of an ex-husband was following me around like a little lost puppy, but I had to play a gracious hostess as cousin of the bride and one of her bridesmaids…”

“No, Kay, that’s **_fahking_** _bullshit_!” He spat, turning to face her straight on, anger flaring at the revelations she just passed along to him. She reached out, trying to calm him with her touch, but he needed her to see this new information wasn’t cool. “Kay, don’t try and tell me that this Owen guy has mellowed out in the last few years…he _bullied_ your Grandmother and Aunt, he’s a **fahking** bully, and he sounds _obnoxious_ …and _this other asshole_ …”

“Yes.” Katie agreed, finally closing her hand around his wrist to pull it back onto the center console once she turned to face him better, twisting in her seat. “I agree. _Wholeheartedly_ , Chris. But I’ve also _seen_ him mellow out, I’ve seen him apologize _over_ and _over_ again and initiate turning over a new leaf, for his part. I may not always _like_ him, or _agree_ with him…but he’s an _okay_ guy. So, will you do me a favor and **not** label him as the ultimate villain before meeting him and if you happen to come across he and Gram left alone in the same room, just…don’t leave them unsupervised? Not for the fact that Gram doesn’t want to be left alone with him…”

“ _What?_ I _thought_ that was the whole point of this story? That’s what you said earlier…”

“Not because she’s _scared_ of him…” Katie confessed, peeking up from her cup lid through her lashes, an amused smirk lifting her left cheek as she explained, “But because I honestly think Gram will snap and _kill him_ one of these days…just pretend you’re playing bodyguard, do it for me…otherwise she’ll level that wrath on _you,_ too.”

He felt his forehead lift high at her confession, taking him aback.

“Just stay in her good graces, Chris. She’s a fun, funny and loving woman…but man, she’s a _scary ol’ biddy_ when she wants to be!” Katie admitted with a chuckle as she sipped her drink.

“ _Sounds like somebody else I happen to know_.” Chris teased, shooting smirk across the console to Katie, letting out a belly laugh when she protested, pushing his arm off the rest with a shove. “I’m just giving you a hard time, babe.”

Katie stuck her tongue out at him, making them both break down in a laugh at the playfulness between them after such a serious topic.

Chris brought his cup up, taking a another sip; he lowered the cup and extended his left hand, taking Katie’s hand and pushing his fingers through hers, telling her, “But in _all seriousness_ , Kay…I’ll try to keep my mind open, try not to write this guy off as a complete jackass…but from what I’m hearing, I don’t like this kid already. He’s a punk…and what’s this about this ex of your cousin’s? **THAT** guy, I want to punch…”

Katie inhaled deeply before pushing it back out in a rush, licking her lips as she eyed Chris for a moment.

“Is this **_really_** what you want to talk about right now, Chris?” She asked, pushing her hat up to show more of her face; he nodded, quietly affirming her with a soft ‘yeah’. “ _Okay_ …well, my cousin Nicole, the one that saw *N SYNC with Mom and I three times, she enlisted in the Navy, eventually got shipped out to Guam, and that’s where she met Ian…”

She paused for a moment, watching out the windshield at the planes moving on the airfield as the drone of a flight coming into land grew louder, soon drowning out any attempt at conversation before coming into view as it touched down.

“They had a whirlwind ‘ _romance_ ’-” Katie explained, using air quotes to accompany her rolling her eyes and Chris could tell she hated they shared a fast paced beginning with somebody she seemed to dislike as much as she did this _Ian_ guy, “- _like us_ …met, started dating, my cousin got pregnant and they were engaged in months, married within a year, just before the baby was born…”

“They, _uhh_ …they came back to the mainland for Christmas, that was when they had _just_ gotten engaged, and when he met our family. It was right after my sixteenth birthday, and this guy just **_wouldn’t_** leave me alone from the moment we were introduced.” Katie told him, staring off at the airfield blankly, sighing before continuing, “ _Everybody_ was just so _charmed_ by him, but he had the hair on the back of my neck standing up and my bullshit sensors going off like mad, _right_ from the get go…”

“What was he doing? Was he getting _inappropriate_ with you, babe?” Chris asked, feeling his anger rising again at some asshole possibly forcing himself onto an underage woman, _his_ woman in particular.

“No, _not technically_ , but he made me **_really_** _uncomfortable_.” Katie admitted. “He would _hover_ , _hang around me_ , _breach my personal space_ …he had a tendency to _linger_ in his touches and hugs. He’d make inappropriate comments, complimenting my eyes, and the clothes I wore…”

## “ _ **What?**_ ”

“ _Yeeeeah_ …I remember that first meeting, he bent down to look me in the eye, he’s like, over 6’6”, and he got inches away from my face and told me, _at the age of sixteen, mind you_ …’You have the most **_gorgeous_** green eyes…so **_beautiful_** …’ and ‘You are so _pretty_ , Katie. You should model…’”

## “ _Are you **fahking shitting** me?_”

“ _Ohhh_ , it gets better-” Katie said with an unamused sneer, “-then, before we left to head home, the family went shopping for the baby because Nicole was about five months along at that point…and when we got out of our cars, Ian _rushed_ over to give me a _**huge** hug_ , lifting me off the ground and holding onto me for longer than he should have…when he finally put me down, he held my arms and told me, ‘This _sweater._..it looks **great** on you, the color matches your eyes and it **really** hugs your figure.’”

Chris felt a breath leave him in a rush, his jaw hanging open in disbelief.

“ **Excuse me?** _Did he **really** …?_”

“ **Yeah.** ” Katie affirmed, nodding her head like a bobble-head doll. “He _did_. And from that point on, if it looked like I was going to be left alone with him when they visited, I ghosted. _I didn’t trust him_ , and my parents just kind of brushed me off when I tried to tell them how I felt…”

“ _ **WHAT?**_ ” He spat, suddenly fuming as he plunked his cup into the cup holder. “Kay, this was **_serious_** , _he could have_ …he… **you** were _**underage**_!”

“ **I know.** ” She agreed, her head bowed towards her lap. “My parents not listening to me, **that** really hurt, but I knew my gut instincts told me to keep my guard up around him, which ** _I did_**. Luckily I didn’t have to spend much time with him because he got re-stationed from Guam back to Florida to be closer to his son…”

“ _Wait_ …how ** _old_** was this guy?” Chris asked incredulously.

“I think he was 32 when I met him…so, _twice my age_? Nicole’s about five months younger than you, so…he was about ten years older than her?”

“What a _**FAAHKING** creep_! I still can’t believe this asshole would do that to you, especially when your cousin was pregnant with his kid! _I just_ … ** _FAAHK_**!”

“Yeah… _that’s_ what I felt about the whole situation at the time.” Katie sighed. “But that asshole isn’t apart of my life anymore since Nicole divorced him a couple of years ago.”

“Well, _that’s a plus_.” Chris mumbled, blowing an angry breath out before glancing over at Katie and asking, “What about your cousin and her kid? Was he abusive towards them?”

Katie’s head bobbed up and down, a sad expression on her face.

“Yeah. It was mostly mental and verbal, but he did get physical a few times, and it was usually directed towards Nicole, but Lilly, their daughter, was on the receiving end a couple of times I found out after the fact.” Katie uttered a heavy sigh, scrubbing her hand to her forehead, going on to say, “Nicole finally did something about it after years of suspecting he was cheating on her when she finally had some concrete evidence to help ensure she’d get a decent child support check. She told me that she couldn’t do anything until he came up for promotion since he’d been in for over twenty years and they were coming up on their ten year anniversary.”

“That’s _**bullshit**_ , she not only put and kept **_herself_** in danger of this **fahker’s** wrath, but she put her **_daughter_** in the line of fire too…”

“Chris… _believe me_ , **_I’m well aware_**! I’ve had **so many** conversations with her about this, and how much **danger** she and Lilly were in! But, they’re out of that situation now, he’s not involved in their lives any more than necessary, and it’s _**not much**_ I can reassure you…once all this came to light, the rest of the family finally saw what I did, _back then_ …”

“I’m not gonna lie, _**I’m pissed**_. I’m **_pissed off_** about hearing **_everything_** you’ve told me right now, babe.” Chris confessed, scrubbing his hand over his face. “You said you’re part of a family full of strong, independent women…yes, I can see you’re not blowing smoke up my ass with **that** claim-” he spat, frustrated at her revelation, letting some of his steam out of the pot with a mouthy observation of his own, “-but _**your family** sure can **pick ‘em**_. You guys have a record for **shitty relationships** with _douches_ , don’t you? _Your cousins_ and _their jackasses_ , **you** and **_that fahking idiot_** at the stripper show…”

_“It seems **we** do._ ” Katie answered flatly, but with her hand reaching across the console for his, she softened, “But we _pick up the pieces_ , _learn_ from our _mistakes_ and **_persevere_**. We’re _strong_ , but we’re _not_ hard hearted…just don’t cross us.”

“Kay, it **_hurts my heart_** knowing your parents…knowing **_your mom_** didn’t listen to you when you brought up your concerns about that guy.” Chris admitted, leveling her with a sad expression as he explained further, “I’m _disappointed_ , I won’t deny that…and I _hate_ to say that, because I **_really_** like your mom, she’s a character…but I’m _more than a little **disappointed**_.”

“ _I know._ ” Katie agreed, letting go of his hand to brush against his cheek, returning the disappointed look on his face with one of her own. “ _ **Please** don’t hold it against her_ , or any of the rest of my family…keep an open mind, they’re actually a pretty entertaining group and I think you’ll like them. I’m sorry this got _really_ heavy, babe…”

“It’s okay…” He sighed, looking her straight in the eyes for a moment of connection, “I mean, it’s **NOT** _okay_ , but…you’ve got baggage, your whole family does…you guys have skeletons, so do we. Doesn’t mean I don’t love you, just…I wasn’t exactly expecting to learn about _**that**_. It puts a few things about your hesitance to completely **_let go_** and _jump right into a **relationship** with me_ in perspective, I can’t deny that…but I want you to know, I’m gonna do **everything** in power to keep you _safe_ … _secure_. You’re the _best thing_ in **_my_** life, and I don’t **ever** want you to feel _scared_ with me. If you ever **_do_** , it means **_I’m failing_** as a man, and I wouldn’t be able to **_live with myself_** if **_I did that to you_**.”

“Chris-” She whispered, leaning closer to smile softly at him with another graze of her fingers over his cheek, “-I’ve known you were gonna be _**different**_ from the moment we stood staring at each other, hands locked in that first handshake, and you smiled that little lopsided grin at me, letting that dreamy sigh slip…you were **it** for me then, and that little jolt of electricity in that first touch just **_sealed the deal_**.”

“ _I love you._ ” He smiled, leaning his face forward to kiss her. “Thank you for opening up to me. That wasn’t exactly ** _easy_** stuff to talk about…”

She returned his kiss with one of her own, whispering against his lips, “ ** _No_** , but I figure that my _**husband**_ should be prepared by knowing what he’s **_marrying_** _into_ , know the family history _**before**_ he gets thrown to the wolves…”

“I have a few more months before then though, _right_?” He chuckled, rubbing the tip of his nose to hers in a gentle touch. “I get a _few months_ of _wedded bliss_ with _**my** sexy wife_ before you sacrifice me to the Amazon’s?”

“ _Maybe._ ” Katie teased with a chuckle. “I’ll protect you, keep you safe from my family of crazy woman…”

“ _Ehh_ …you’ve met Ma, my sisters…and I’ve got you. _I’ll feel right at home_.”

“ ** _Smartass…_** ” She grinned, pressing her lips to his once more as the sound of another plane descending grew louder.

[Originally posted by theplaneworld](https://tmblr.co/Z9ikKj29ogfaV)

* * *

“Hey, I just thought about it…” Chris said as we pulled up to the arrivals curb of McCarran International Airport, “Did you take your Christmas tree down already, or is it still up?”

I felt my eyes grow wide at his question.

[Originally posted by quandtaspasdeviesociale](https://tmblr.co/ZibKLr2BRcJda)

“ _Shit_.”

Chris’ head fell back against the headrest as he cracked up.

[Originally posted by chubbycubbins](https://tmblr.co/ZHwa3y1yNDzhn)

“No… ** _you_** told me to stop working around the house! I didn’t even _think_ about taking my tree down _before_ Scott got here! **_Oh man…_** ” I whined, pulling up to the curb and scanning the people standing around for Scott before turning on the hazard lights to let the security people know I was getting ready to load a passenger. Chris pointed out Scott behind an older couple in line for a taxi, and I climbed out of the car to flag him down, but not before I poked my head back into the car to ask Chris, “He’s gonna give me so much shit, isn’t he?”

The handsome bastard had the gall to grin like a fool while nodding his head violently as he laughed all the way from his toes, telling me, “Considering he’s _staying in the living_ room for the next two nights…I _think_ he’s _gonna_ notice, Katie.”

I sent a grimace in his direction and went off to collect my soon to be brother-in-law, leading him back to my car without drawing more attention to us or my car. Scott stashed his suitcase in the trunk quickly and turned to gather me in his arms for a patented ‘Evans Bear Hug’ before we hurried to climb back into the car ahead of airport security telling us to go.

“Hey bro!” Chris called, twisting to reach back into the backseat, greeting his younger brother with a handshake. “How was your flight? How was the wedding?”

I heard Scott exhale a heavy sigh, catching him lean his head back onto the headrest in the rear view mirror as I pulled back into the flow of traffic and out of the airport.

“ _I’m glad it’s fahking over_.”

Glancing at Chris out of the corner of my eye, I fought a smile from spreading over my face at the same time he asked, “Which one?”

“Both.” Scott groaned, adding, “The flight was nothing but turbulence, and I sat in a pocket of people starting their New Year’s celebrating early…and as for the _wedding_ …” Scott reached his right hand up, pinching his nose before moving his hand to rub at his temples, “It didn’t _end_ until around _six this morning_ …I haven’t _slept_ since the day _before_ yesterday, I’ve got a _hangover from hell_ , and _not only_ did I have to _evade_ **_Ma’s_** questions about what we were planning on doing for New Year’s, but I had to field **_ALL_** the questions about **_WHERE_** you were and **_WHY_** you weren’t _there_ … _pleease_ tell me you **_don’t_** have plans for us to go out tonight? _I’m faahking exhausted_ …”

“ _Nahhh_ -” Chris sounded, patting his brother’s knee, “- _We’re_ just getting back into town, too, so…how’s buffalo wings, beer and relaxing at Katie’s apartment sound?”

“ _I’m down_.” Scott yawned.

“Good, ‘cause we already ordered the wings, and I’ll stop to pick up some more beer, then we can call it a day.” I offered, catching Scott’s eye in the mirror with a smile.

* * *

It took another hour and fifteen minutes to make our stops, but soon I was pulling the car into a parking spot under the roof of the resident parking car port, and all three of us let a happy sigh loose.

“Here-” I said, pulling my keys from the ignition once the car was off to take the mail box key off the key chain before handing over my keys to Chris, telling him, “-take _these_ and get the car unloaded while I go check the mail…hopefully your mom’s present is there.”

I left Chris and Scott to take care of bringing up our luggage, the presents we came ‘home’ with from my mom’s house and dinner while I took off for the front office and the mail boxes.

The day had cleared up by degrees, with little slivers of clear sky managing to peek out from the clouds, but it was still extremely chilly for Las Vegas at that point in the afternoon, so I kept my pace brisk to get my errand done as quickly as possible and back to the warmth of my apartment, my man, and the promise of blazin’ boneless buffalo wings, beer and fried pickles.

A gust of wind came rushing around the corner of the open air corridor that housed the apartments mailboxes, and I shivered as I worked the key into the lock, blowing out a breath at finding the slot packed full of mail, but a smile spread over my face a moment later when I found a ‘pick-up’ slip amongst the fliers, envelopes and ads; scanning the items in my hands quickly, I dumped the generic stuff that everybody got-the weekly advertisements, the hokey newspaper and the local postcards offering special deals, and tucked the rest under my arm, heading inside to pick up the mail that wouldn’t fit in my box.

It took a lot longer than I thought it would to make it back to my apartment, but with the massive box and stack of mail, I had to stop to hoist the box back into my grip from the awkward way I was carrying it across the complex. 

I guess Chris heard me on the stairs, because I caught the door opening when I was half way up to my front porch, his eyebrow arched high as he peeked down the stairs at me.

“Need a hand?” He chuckled, stepping out and reaching for the box.

“ _Typical_ …a woman does all the hard work, and _the last ten feet_ , a man shows up and offers to help…” I joked with a roll of my eyes, hoisting the package higher one last time before stepping up onto my small porch, playfully pushing Chris out of the way to the front door. “I got the box, but if you’d be so kind as to get the door for me…”

“Is that…?” He smiled, stepping around me to turn the handle, pushing the door wide for me to step inside.

“The return address is from Massachusetts.” I told him with a grin.

“ ** _Oh good!_** Ma was getting worried if you got it yet or not!” Scott piped up, walking out of the bathroom in sweatpants and a Patriots tee; he stuffed a hand into the pocket of his pants, pulling his phone out to tap out a text, no doubt to let Lisa know he was here with us in Vegas and I had gotten the package she had sent off almost two weeks earlier. He sent his message, lowered the phone and looked up to blast me with the full force of his smile. “Come open it!”

I looked from Scott to Chris, asking, “Should I be worried with that look, babe?”

Chris shrugged his shoulders, his hands held high as he told me, “Generally, when you see _that look_ on his face, _yes_ …you _should_ be worried, but seeing as how even _**I** don’t know _what they sent you…”

“ _Greaaaaat._ ” I groaned, walking into the living room to set the box on the carpet, dropping the other mail onto the coffee table before kneeling next to the box; looking up, I smiled at both the Evans brothers, but called Chris to come join me on the floor.

“It’s _your_ present, Kay, **_NOT_** mine!” He reminded me, but crossed the room and squatted down next to me, pressing a kiss to my temple as he added, “You open it.”

I knocked my shoulder into his chest, laughing softly when it pushed him off balance and he fell to his ass. With the two keys I still held in my hand, I jabbed the end into the tape covering the flaps of the box, and soon had it open to discover the inside was full of packing material.

I turned to look at Chris, forehead lifted high as I told him in a teasing voice, “Does your mom always ship a moving box of packing peanuts to all your girlfriends for their first Christmas? Or am I just **_really_** special?”

He peeked into the box before sitting back, answering, “Usually she just sends socks…I don’t know what to make of this…”

Scott’s snickering had us both looking up from the sea of packing material to raise a brow in his direction.

“ _Keep digging_ , Geniuses…”

Chris and I both lifted a hand, flipping Scott off while sticking our tongues out, and as soon as we both realized what we had done, we fell to pieces, laughing as we leaned against one another while Scott groaned.

“ ** _Just open the damn box_**!”

Once Chris and I had pulled ourselves together, I shifted the top layer of packing peanuts, hearing a muted clink of my fingernail connecting with glass, so I shifted closer, wiggling my hands deeper into the box.

“ _Ummm_ …you **_might_** want to lift it from the _bottom_.” Scott offered with a shit eating grin as he crossed the room, heading for the couch to sink into with a sigh of contentment. “ _Just an F.Y.I…_ ”

Sitting frozen, hands buried in packing peanuts, I turned my head slowly to send a look of narrow eyed annoyance to the younger Evans brother, telling him, “ _Hey_ , **_shush_**! Or I’m gonna smother you with a pillow while you sleep tonight!”

Chris laughed, rubbing his hand along the length of my back as he looked at Scott, adding, “ _She will too…_ ”

“I don’t doubt that…” Scott said, returning my expression with a playful sneer before adding, “ _All I’m saying_ is just lift it from the bottom… _it’s fragile_.”

It took me a moment to rearrange, sitting on my knees to allow me better leverage to lift whatever it was in the box out with Chris holding the box secure for me; there was definitely glass involved, since the cool, smooth surface extended all the way down to the base at the bottom of the box, and once I got a secure grasp on the wooden base, I began lifting. 

A wave of packing material came spilling out over the edge of the box before I lifted a glass domed bell jar up and out, but the inside was stuffed with more insulation to keep the insides safe. I set it on the floor, spotting the little latches that kept the lid in place; I unlocked them, and lifted the dome, setting it aside gently and turning my focus back to the insulation wrap wound around whatever was attached to the base, letting a small gasp of surprise and awe escape when I pulled the last of it away to reveal something that made my heart ache in the best way possible-a beautiful, giant dark red silk rose was attached to the wooden base, complete with fallen petals, a string of ‘fairy’ lights, and a few other nods to various Disney Princesses…a gorgeous antique fork acted as Ariel’s Dinglehopper, a small pumpkin was there for Cinderella, the tiara from Tangled rested around the rose’s stem, a plastic apple was painted and done up to represent Snow White’s infamous apple, and a small lantern sat around the backside, lit up with a small cut out casting a shadow shaped like Tinkerbell against the shade when i turned the power switch on for the ‘fairy lights’.

Feeling my throat tighten as my eyes welled up, I covered my mouth with a hand, completely at a loss for words.

“Chris…there’s _something else_ in the box that you might want to give her.” Scott said, pointing at the now empty box, or what I had presumed had been empty…

Chris reached for the cardboard, drawing it close to tip towards him, digging in the filler that hadn’t fallen out onto my carpet, pausing when he felt something.

“ _Is this_ …is this what I _think_ it is?” He asked, turning to look at Scott; Scott sent him a grin, nodding. Chris lifted his hands, bringing a book out of the peanuts…a familiar looking book.

He brushed off the few packing peanuts that clung to the cover thanks to static electricity before extending his hand, pushing the book into my free hand.

Staring at the cover, I recognized the book from the romantic video Chris had made and included on the iPad I opened moments before he gave me the surprise of a lifetime on Christmas night. The building feeling of my chest catching told me the tears that welled in my eyes were about to spill, and I turned to look up at him.

“ _Every Disney Princess **needs**_ her storybook, _right_?” He grinned, face lifting on the one side, shaking his head in disbelief just like I was doing. “ _Babe_ …I had **_NO_** idea that they were doing _this_ …I only asked Carly to make the book for the video…this was **_all_** _my Ma, and sisters_.”

“ ** _Excuse you!_** It was **_MY_** idea!” Scott piped up, pointing at himself as he explained, “None of us could come up with a good present to get you, Kay…then **_this_** knuckle head-” Scott pointed to Chris, “-he asked Carly to make him a book like the ones at the beginnings of the old Disney movies, and I thought we’d run with it. Do you _like_ it?”

I couldn’t scramble up from my spot on the carpet quick enough, launching myself at Scott to wrap my arms around him, crying happy tears as I tried to tell him, “ _I **love** it_! I’m _so sorry_ that I only got you that silly t-shirt…”

“Hey, I **loved** my t-shirt! I wore it the _rest_ of Christmas day, and the _next_.” He chuckled, giving me a tight squeeze with a kiss to my cheek. When he leaned back, he held my shoulders, smiling that trademark Evans grin, he added, “I’m really glad you’re gonna be my **_sister_** …finally gives me a partner-in-crime to get some retribution on his ass for all the shit he did to me when we were kids!”

“ _Hey_!” Chris shouted, swinging his arm to land a punch to his brother’s leg, which in turn had Scott yelping in surprise of the blow. 

[Originally posted by a-frappuchino-world](https://tmblr.co/ZQ_qKn1os24pj)

* * *

It was much later, well into the evening hours, with dinner having been eaten with Scott, Katie and Chris lined up on the couch, feet kicked up on the coffee table while watching old episodes of Modern Family followed by Chris offering Katie a hand with some of the cleaning, just like he had promised earlier the prior week. 

They left Scott in the living room to his own devices as they headed to the kitchen; Chris focused on the packing that was left and moving the appliances so Katie could sweep, mop and wash the surfaces, leaving the stove to self-clean later on and working on the fridge.

Katie excused herself to take a shower, then Chris took his turn after bringing the boxes and garbage bags down to the dumpster she had stacked to throw away.

“ _Hey…_ ” Scott called as Chris opened the front door, walking in after his last trip to take the trash out. Chris looked over at him, sitting on the couch with his legs spread and arms draped across the back with a brow raised in question; Scott’s left hand, holding a beer, moved to point at the Christmas tree that still stood in the corner between the gas fireplace and the sliding glass door, asking, “Is it _my imagination_ , or is Kay’s tree Cap’d out? Like, I’m **not** crazy, right?”

Hanging his head, Chris laughed as he closed the door behind him, locking the handle and deadbolt, listening for the quiet click of the ‘security system’ arming.

“ _Yeah_ …she says it’s an ‘Avengers’ tree, but _yeah_ , there’s more Cap than anybody else on there…” He chuckled, looking up with a lopsided grin. “She said she had to get it _out of her system_ …that this was the _last_ year she got to decorate her tree _entirely_ how she wanted…” Chris shook his head while looking across the room at the tree, watching as the lights changed from white to red, then blue, and finally a mix of all three, adding, “I don’t think she understands how much I _love_ Christmas, Scotty…if she wants to put a tree up in _every fahking room of the house_ , I’m _perfectly okay_ with that! If a ‘Cap’ tree makes her happy…”

“Bro, if this was _anybody else_ that did that-” Scott laughed, pointing at the tree, “-I’d be a little concerned, because that’d be more than a little creepy, and definitely questionable…but it’s Kay…she’s _proud_ of _you_ and _your accomplishments_. If _**anybody** other than Ma_ is gonna be _allowed_ to get away with this, it’s gonna be Katie.”

“Are you gonna give her a hard time for the tree?” Chris asked, hoping Scott caught the warning in his tone along with the raised brow he leveled him with. “She’s worried you’re gonna give her endless shit for it…”

“Why would I do that, Chris?” Scott asked, tilting his head to the right as he went on, “I _may_ tease and pester her, but I’m _more perceptive_ than you give me credit for…if you remember, ** _I_** thought up that ‘Belle’ rose **_BEFORE_** you finally began calling her that. I know her boundaries, I can see when something is a touchy subject with her… _so don’t worry_ , I _won’t_ give her shit about the tree. I actually _like_ it, I think it’s _cute_.”

Shooting Scott a thumbs up, Chris excused himself to head back to the bedroom and eventually the bathroom to jump in the shower.

It only took him a moment to gather up his toiletry bag, the lounge pants and a t-shirt, so when Chris opened the bathroom door and a cloud of steam hit him in the face, he hadn’t been anticipating to find Katie still in the shower and he smirked at his good fortune.

Chris stepped into the room, closing the door softly behind him before setting his stuff on the little bit of counter that wasn’t already covered with Katie’s clothes and towel; he stripped down quickly, and rolled the glass door back, allowing him to duck under the top portion of the frame to step into the stall, crowding in close to Katie as she was standing under the water, head back, rinsing her hair.

“ _Oh… **hello**!_ ” She giggled, startled by his sudden appearance when his hands rested on her hips; her eyes were squeezed shut, keeping the stream of shampoo from running into her eyes as she asked, “Just couldn’t wait your turn, _could you_? You **_had_** to come jump in with me…what’s your brother gonna say?”

“That I’m _completely_ whipped, and he _wouldn’t_ be wrong.” Chris laughed, lifting one hand to wipe away the water from her eyes when she stood back up from her lean back into the water to rinse off her face. She opened her eyes, and smiled up at him while smoothing back her hair into a ponytail, bringing it over her right shoulder to rinse the ends better. 

Leaning forward, Chris pressed in for gentle peck, whispering, “And ** _why_** would I wait? When there’s a wet, naked woman in the shower that I can pamper a little…”

“You’re a little late, I already washed my hair…” 

[Originally posted by lelucibianchediparigi](https://tmblr.co/Zxjhpo1wVhO3N)

“But have you washed your _body_?” He asked with that trademark smirk with a the arched eyebrow. “Even if you have, you can always lie and say you haven’t so I can have a legit excuse to keep you in here with me for as long as I can…”

“So _greedy_ …” She teased while reaching for her conditioner, pounding the cap to bring the gunk to the end for easier dispensing, but Chris let go of her hip, taking the bottle to squeeze a blob into the palm of his hand.

Katie closed her hand around the bottle, adding more to the little pile with a smile to him, saying, “It’s gonna take _more than **that**_ with all this hair…is this _you **pampering** me_? Putting my conditioner in and using the ‘I’ll scrub you down’ excuse to finger fuck me with your brother on the other side of the door?”

“Baby, I’m **_not_** finger fucking you…” He grinned, “Well, at least that’s not **all** I’m planning on doing…”

[Originally posted by negaholic-teen](https://tmblr.co/ZwKe9m2DL06Fu)

Chris begrudgingly let Katie out of the shower after he made good on his promise of ‘pampering’ her with attention and touches, eventually pinning her against the wall of the shower to love her in the downpour of cool water left for him to shower in; he made quick work of bathing, and when he finally walked out of the bathroom, clicking the light off but leaving the vent fan on to suck out the humidity, he found Katie sitting on the couch with Scott, her legs folded underneath her while running a brush through her wet hair.

‘ _…Call me when you’re through. Take care of you._ ’

Chris caught his fiancée and brother turn to glance at one another, grinning while pointing a finger at the other, quoting the next line, “ ** _Take care of you_** ” before giggling like loons.

Walking into the living room, Chris peeked at the TV, shaking his head when he saw Julia Roberts slink towards the Lotus Esprit.

“ _Really_? Are we ** _really_** gonna watch Pretty Woman right now?”

A pillow came flying at his chest, bouncing off the cotton of his shirt as Scott told him, “ ** _Shut up man_** , I just had to listen to you two thumping against the wall like a pair of Catholic rabbits in _there_ -” Scott lifted his hand to point back at the bathroom, adding, “-if you don’t want to share the bonding experience I’m having with my _soon to be sister-in-law_ , then you can go pout in the bedroom, but until the credits roll, Katie’s mine.”

“Come on, Chris-” Katie smiled, lowering her hand to pat the middle cushion to her left, “-it just started and if you come sit down, we can _relive_ the night we met.”

“ _Wait… **what?**_ ” Scott asked, confused as he turned to look at Katie.

“The night we met, at Anna’s…when I left…” She began to explain, but Chris cut in as he joined them on the couch.

“She backed me up into her car, felt me up while kissing me, and before I knew it, she was rounding her car, telling me, ‘ _Give me a call if you want, I promise I’ll try you so good you’re never gonna want to let me go…_ ’-” Chris said, setting his hand on her knee to squeeze softly. Katie broke into a wide grin, fighting a blush as he went on, “- _Well_ …you can see where **_that_** led us to.”

Katie leaned forward, looking around Chris to tell Scott, “He sent me a text within fifteen minutes, quoting another line… _’I appreciate this whole seduction scene you’ve got going on here, but let me give you a tip…I’m a sure thing_ ’ and that just kicked it off.”

“Then she sends me back a text telling me _‘In case I forget to tell you later, I had a really good time tonight_ ’. And she called me ‘Mr. Sure-thing’ when she said goodnight, so I sent one more volley back into her court…” Chris confessed.

“What’d you send her, numb nuts? _Obviously_ she liked it, or I **_wouldn’t_** be sitting here _right now_ …”

“ _‘Good night Cinder-fahkin’-rella’._ ” Chris grinned, laying his Boston accent on thick for her as he lifted his right arm, pulling Katie into his side, which she was more than happy to oblige him by cuddling close with a happy smile she sent up to him.

Scott just sat, shaking his head in amusement, “The two of you…you guys are _too fahking much_ , ya know that, **_right_**?”

Chris glanced to Katie, and in near perfect unison, they both broke into huge smiles, nodding vigorously to affirm Scott’s rhetorical question, earning a groan from deep in the back of his throat that made them chuckle as all three got comfortable, settling in for the movie.

[Originally posted by becauseblack](https://tmblr.co/ZeROHn1ZO6u4K)

* * *

“ _Alright…_ ” Chris sighed, lifting his hands from where they rested against his stomach to come slapping down on my left knee and Scott’s right in a solid ‘crack’ which made us both jump before pushing his hands off us to rub at the stinging flesh while glaring at him; he pushed up off the cushion, standing and stretching with his arms pushed high into the air, almost touching the ceiling of the living room, letting a sound escape his chest at the relief he felt before turning to look at Scott, saying, “Movie’s over…I’m taking my woman back. It’s time for _bed_.”

I was looking up the length of his back, my brows pinched in a frown at his proclamation, so I reached up and pinched his jersey cotton covered ass, noting he hadn’t put any underwear on after his time in the shower, and smiling triumphantly when he jumped at my action.

“ ** _HEY!_** ” He yelped, his right hand coming back to grab his backside protectively with a glance over his shoulder to frown a narrow eyed glare at me, telling me, “That _hurt_ …”

“You deserved it, your _caveman_ is showing…” I told him matter of factly, adding, “Stop it, now isn’t the time or place for you to regress into a _chest beating, hair pulling, club wielding, ‘Me Tarzan, You Jane’-ing, throw me over your shoulder jackass_ …be nice, he’s had a long couple of days…”

“Yeah, listen to Kay…” Scott laughed while pointing back in my direction.

“As much as I _love_ it when you get like _this_ …not tonight.” I smiled, but he frowned even more when Scott tugged me across the cushion Chris had just vacated to give me a hug that I could see only acted like a red flag in front of a bull…

“ _Sorry_ , babe…-” Chris stated, turning to face Scott and I, adding as the left side of his face lifted in the sexy smirk of his, “-but it’s time… ** _for bed_**.”

I knew that look…that was the ‘I wanna fool around and I get what I want’ face; it was an expression I’d seen from practically the moment we met, and I knew perfectly well that he **_did_** in fact get **_whatever_** he wanted when he wore **that** expression, because I certainly wasn’t going to tell him ‘no’ with that glint in his eye and the promise that I’d end up a pile of satisfied woman when he was done…

I got a solid five seconds of eye contact trying to wordlessly communicate what he had in mind, a slow spreading grin telling me he found my silence amusing.

Arching an eyebrow, Chris held his hand out to me, instructing, “Come on, _let’s go to bed_ so Scott can get comfortable…”

I hesitated, licking my lips as I watched him closely for another couple of beats before finally breaking the eye contact to flick my eyes at Scott, who was sitting next to me with a pained look on his face, asking, “And if I say ‘no’?”

“ _Awww man_ …I’m gonna have to listen to the two of you going to town **AGAIN** , _aren’t I_?” He whined, covering his eyes with his left hand in frustration. “Take some pity on me, _for cryin’ out loud_! I haven’t slept in almost **_TWO_** days, _guys_! **_COME ON_**!”

Chris inhaled deeply, bending slightly to grab my wrists to pull me to my feet where he promptly pressed his shoulder to my stomach, lifting me off the floor; I could feel his right hand holding my knee to keep me secure as his left hand came down in a loud ‘CRAAAACK’ against my rear end, going on to say, “ _Nope_ …I told you, Katie, _it’s time…FOR… **BED**_. Scott got _his_ time with you, now ** _I_** get **_MINE_** …now _come on_ , say goodnight Katie.”

When I didn’t immediately tell Scott goodnight, another loud ‘smack’ met my ass, so I returned the favor with a swat of my own to his muscular backside, which earned another one in retribution from him.

“ _Fine. Mr. Bossypants…_ ” I muttered before gripping Chris’ waist to twist to look around his side at Scott to offer a small and embarrassed grin, telling him, “‘Night Scott…there’s clean sheets on the pull out mattress, but if you’d rather sleep on the cushions…there’s a clean sheet sitting in the top of that open box, and blankets too. A pillow too.-” Chris called his quiet ‘goodnight’, turning an about face and starting to cross the living room to make for the bedroom, making me brace against his narrow waist as I called back to his brother, “-There’s earplugs in the right drawer in the bathroom, help yourself if you need them…see you in the morning…”


End file.
